The History of Art and Design: The Fin De Siecle and The New Art

Art Nouveau has always been something that I've been aware of but never really cared to look into, not that it didn't particularly interest me but it's never been something that stands out. Perhaps it's because humans have always looked at organic forms in their art and design and how they can make their work look more like a natural part of the world rather than something unnatural. Art Nouveau was the master of trying to make things look just peachy and fairy-like with their whiplash like lines that only remind me of vines or weirdly enough seaweed, and seaweed kind of grosses me out. There's nothing wrong with natural of course, and the art produced by those who were influenced by the movement did produce some really good pieces, I guess I never understood the excitement over it. It's been done before and it'll be done again in the future in another sort of organic form.

The Art Nouveau movement went the complete opposite way to the simplistic and effective nature of the arts and crafts movement, they wanted to go back to being surrounded by nature and flowers and daisies by bringing nature into the home and into art. Charles Rennie Mackintosh from Scotland was one of those who was the main influencer of the movement, I would particularly use his stained glass works to show how he influenced any successors of the movement. He was also a part of the reason why Vienna was influenced by the Art Nouveau movement. Josef Hoffman was one of the Viennese Art Nouveau influencers who went on to design chairs, unlike the predecessors in the arts and craft movement who loved the simplicity of design, and the craft that goes behind Josef Hoffman really did love to add unnecessary wibbly wobbly lines and strange decor all over his chairs. Well, it does get credit in the fancy department at least.

Meanwhile in Barcelona, a man named Antoni Gaudi was busy making possibly the most bizarre buildings and in fact transforming the entire city into this strange organically formed structures. His work almost seems alien to me, in fact I once visited Barcelona when I was about 10 and didn't really understand the architectural significance  of Antoni Gaudi's work, or the fact that even now the Sagrada Familia is being built. Perhaps the reason why we as people think of the buildings as so strange and alien is because we're not quite used to buildings being so... artsy. Throughout history a building has been shaped in its efficient form. A house is a square or a rectangle for a reason, a church has all its decor to celebrate a god or gods, a skyscraper is a skyscraper because it wants to boast its prosperity to the rest of the world. Having this very organic form as a building seems so foreign to us. Out of all the Art Nouveau pieces I've seen and researched I think Antoni Gaudi has to be my favourite, despite the criticisms. There is something quite amazing about his lifetime work, and the fact a single man is able to transform a lot of the city.